Microsoft Identity Lifecycle Manager 2007 enables administrators to manage the multiple digital identities inherent in enterprises today, and to keep users, computers, and other directory objects in sync among diverse directories and databases. This article introduces the key concepts of ILM. John McGlinchey

User Account Control is a set of technologies that has one overall goal: to make it possible for users to run as standard users. In this article, Mark Russinovich explains how the default Windows 7 UAC mode makes a PA user’s experience smoother by reducing prompts, allows them to control what legitimate software can modify their system, and still enables more software to run without administrative rights and continues to shift the software ecosystem to write software that works with standard user rights. Mark Russinovich

In most situations, database backups are critical for recovering from a disaster, but there are lots of misconceptions about how backups work and what a good backup strategy is. In this article, the fi rst in a three-part series on disaster recovery, Paul S. Randal explains how the three most common types of backups work and how you can combine them into an effective backup strategy. Paul S. Randal

Are there new high-availability features in Exchange 2010? Is administration any easier? Has the Extensible Storage Engine been replaced? And what’s new with Outlook Web Access? Henrik Walther answers these questions and more.Henrik Walther

Trying and failing to connect to Exchange Server often leaves you with no hint as to the nature of the problem. Now the Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer can help IT administrators figure out the causes of the connectivity failures and, in many cases, provide suggested steps for resolution.Brad Hughes

SharePoint security hardening requires an end-to-end approach that addresses the full spectrum of security dependencies and risks within and across server farms. Pav Cherny discusses how deploying NAP with IPsec enforcement is an effective way to harden your SharePoint infrastructure.Pav Cherny

Greg Shields explains why setting and managing file permissions from the command line, though initially complex, can provide great benefits, and he describes two free tools to help you do this.Greg Shields

If you are searching for a way to be able to access to files from anywhere, and to share and synchronize those files easily, there are a growing number of potential solutions, as this column describes.Wes Miller

When questioned about the business value of IT, IT professionals must not cede the debate to the questioner. Instead of directly responding, they should choose an approach that reveals both the invalidity of the question and the virtues of IT.Romi Mahajan